Vikings: Andrew Sendejo takes long, winding road to starting lineup

Minnesota free safety Andrew Sendejo stops Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III after a short gain in the third quarter at the Metrodome in Minneapolis on November 7, 2013. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)

Andrew Sendejo had the misfortune of suffering a high ankle sprain that ended a productive football career at Rice University and hobbled him in a walking boot when NFL scouts visited at the end of his senior season in 2009.

But fate also teamed him at Rice with a fellow safety named Corey Frazier, who happens to be the son of Vikings coach Leslie Frazier. So Sendejo was on Minnesota's radar long before he became a starter when free safety Harrison Smith was sidelined in October with a toe injury.

However, it took four years and five pit stops on the free-agent, special-teams circuit before Sendejo became a playmaker in the Vikings' defensive backfield.

Sendejo has earned enough trust to remain in the starting rotation with Jamarca Sanford this week as the team reintegrates Smith, who is expected to be activated from injured reserve before Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles at the Metrodome.

Sendejo, 26, picked up his first NFL interception last week against Baltimore's Joe Flacco and had a second, potential game-ending interception late in the fourth quarter negated by a dubious pass interference penalty against linebacker Chad Greenway.

Three months after signing a two-year, $2 million contract extension ($400,000 guaranteed), Sendejo finally has the security that once eluded him. But he has not lost his survivalist instinct.

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"I don't think about security; I feel you should always play with a chip on your shoulder, like you're on the bubble," he said this week. "If you play hungry like that, you'll always do well."

Sendejo's high-octane intensity made him a natural fit on special teams, where he thrived for the Vikings last season. But his confidence at safety has grown exponentially with experience, according to defensive coordinator Alan Williams.

"We knew he was smart. He made adjustments well. All those things without experience sometimes don't mean a whole bunch," Williams said. "But we've found he's seeing it for the second time or the third time in terms of communicating with the other safety, with the linebackers. You feel more comfortable with him."

Put it on tape, and NFL scouts eventually will find you. That is the journeyman's credo. They found Sendejo in the spring of 2010 playing for the Sacramento Mountain Lions in the now-defunct United Football League.

Ignored by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following a rookie camp tryout, Sendejo landed in the upstart league and was coached in Sacramento by former Vikings coach Dennis Green. He finished second in the UFL in tackles and was runner-up for the defensive player of the year award.

The Dallas Cowboys initially signed Sendejo to their practice squad and later activated him for three games on special teams late in the 2010 season. He returned for training camp in 2011 and was among the final players reassigned to the practice squad.

The New York Jets, scheduled to open the regular season against the Cowboys, snatched Sendejo off waivers. The move to gain a scouting report on an opponent was made transparent when Sendejo was released two weeks later.

Failed tryouts with the Eagles and Tennessee Titans followed. The Vikings, plagued by a rash of injuries in their secondary late in 2011, eventually signed Sendejo, who was thrust into the safety rotation during the final three games of a forgettable 13-loss season.

But he found a fit with the Vikings, whose patience paid off in developing a plug-and-play defender nobody else wanted.

"I think I've showed they can trust me to put me in now that I've started and gotten a lot of reps on defense," Sendejo said. "Any time a guy's getting his first start, coaches are probably going to be a little leery of that because they don't want you to freak out under the lights."

Smith, the Vikings' first-round pick in 2012, appreciates the longer, more winding road Sendejo traveled to become a peer.

"I think he's a great example of a guy who's been ready to be a starter for a while, who prepares like that every week," Smith said. "He's early in and one of the last guys out, and it's not just for show. I always make fun of him and Jamarca for being meatheads. They're always in the weight room. He hasn't changed."

At Rice, Sendejo was on the freshman All-America team, led the Owls with 107 tackles and five interceptions as sophomore, and was emerging as a lower-round draft prospect when he was injured with five games remaining in his senior year.

But he doesn't allow himself to play the what-if game. All Sendejo knows is he's finally here despite all the dead ends.

"If you know you're able to play at this level, it's hard to say, 'Ah, I'm done,' when you know you can do it," he said. "I just kind of stuck with it. Once I got a taste of it, there was no way I could just stop."